Why Every Day is Launch Day
How to keep that new-car smell going
Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote a somewhat contrarian piece about the launch of my then-new book, Wrangling the Doubt Monster: Fighting Fears, Finding Inspiration.
I observed that:
Launching a book is not the biggest thing in an author’s life. It’s not the start of an author’s career, not a promise of good things to come (or bad), not a significant milestone, at all, really.
Doubt Monster is now a year old, but she’s not really feeling her age. She’s still a spring chicken with lots of bounce in her.
And I still believe that a book never stops launching, in the sense that it’s always going to be new to someone; it’s always ready to be discovered; and the opportunities to share the contents are basically limited only by your imagination.
Our culture does love to celebrate the newest thing: the new weight-loss drug, the new packaging on a carton of oat milk, the new series on Netflix…
Slap the word NEW on something, and people jump to attention.
There’s no reason why an author should stop treating their book—including its cover, its content, its message, the feelings and ideas it engenders—as anything less than new.
That doesn’t mean lying about its age.
It does mean ensuring that your material stays fresh for you. You need to stay excited, and convey that excitement to others. If you’re bored or burned out discussing or marketing your post-post-post-launch book, then either take a break or give yourself a pep talk and get back out there—with enthusiasm.
I consider it a fun challenge—and a good intellectual exercise—to find ways of sharing and discussing the lessons of Doubt Monster with audiences I haven’t tapped yet, and by exploiting angles I haven’t done to death.
Even a whole year later, I’ve barely scratched the surface on this.
For example, in the fourth quarter of 2025, long after the official launch of Doubt Monster, I wrote an essay exploring the ways that AI ratchets up self-doubt. This was new territory for me to explore, and I got such a kick out of figuring this out. That article helped me land on a talk show on an NPR member radio station in New England and also got me invited to speak to college faculty on the subject; and they ordered bulk copies of the book.
When you adopt the mindset that your book always has something new to say to fresh audiences, then there’s no reason to go stale—and no reason to consider the launch that is in the rear-view mirror as a kind of book-death.
This mindset also helps relieve the intense pressure you may feel to make your original launch count. Sure, it’s nice to mark the occasion of your book birthday…but that birthday rolls around every year…and every day your book is a year older than it was on that same date the prior year. You get the point.
You may be thinking that you need to make a big splash on the official Launch Day in order to goose the almighty Amazon algorithm. Sure. Maybe. Personally, I’m over it. I can’t spend enough time or money to influence that.
I’d much rather conserve my energy for the rolling launch that never truly ends: finding new readers, new ways to talk about the book’s ideas, and new outlets ready to bring me to their own followers…who have never heard of my book…but I’m about to change that...and thus, another Launch Day is born.
I will soon get to put these ideas to the test (again) and see what develops. I have a new novel coming out this spring (Tent City). I’m not going to obsess over the official launch. It’s the day after I’m focused on—and all the days after that.
New Tricks to Try for your Aging Book
All of these options are open to you, even if your book isn’t new (who knows? who cares?). And if you’ve already done these things, try doing them again with different sponsors and different messaging. Remember: You and your book are always new to someone!
If you’ve never ventured onto a podcast, you’re missing out on a way to reach hundreds or thousands of potential readers.
If you don’t have a short book trailer, now’s the time to make one. You’ll instantly have a catchy reel to post online. (Fivver is a great place to find someone to make you an inexpensive book trailer.)
Write and publish a think piece—essay, prose poem, multimedia extravaganza—that expresses your book’s world, characters, story, feelings, in a new way; or analyzes your genre; or explores lessons learned from writing your book. There are countless digital and print outlets hungry for new material that isn’t about selling, but rather about sharing ideas and experiences.
Pitch a reading at your public library.
Set up a meet-greet at a local bookstore that will allow you to sell on consignment. Even Barnes & Noble stores are doing this.
Pitch a writing workshop that aligns with your genre. You’re already an expert on technique! Why not share that with others (and expose them to your book)? Of course, this only makes sense if teaching others is something you enjoy.
Join local, regional, or national writers groups that include or specialize in your genre. Then get involved as a volunteer. So much new exposure!
An Anniversary…
WRANGLING THE DOUBT MONSTER: FIGHTING FEARS, FINDING INSPIRATION turns one year old!
If you’re a creative person, this is still the book you need to get inspired and feel seen as an artist. (The audiobook is a really fast “listen.”)
And take the DOUBT DECODER QUIZ to learn how self-doubt affects all aspects of daily living. (You may be surprised!) We’re publishing new findings in 2026—and I’d love to include your responses (anonymously, of course).
And a Birthday…
My new novel, TENT CITY, is available on pre-order!
An action-packed family saga involving an economic apocalypse. Will that do it for you?
Does the end of prosperity start at home?
A striving family. A collapsing economy. A tragic death. In Tent City, everyone must confront their demons in the struggle to survive.
